Gender and teaching

One of the questions we debated was whether we should call this chapter ‘Women and Teaching’ given that it is this that was of key interest to many second-wave feminist educationalists (Grumet, 1988; Weiler, 1988; Acker, 1983, 1989) and the theorisation of which consequently underpins our knowledge and understanding of teacher gender today. However, at the same time, whilst there continues to be writing and research exploring women teachers’ identities, especially in relation to the ways in which social class, sexuality and ethnicity shape their career opportunities and experiences (Kehily, 2002; Beauboeuf, 2004; Maguire, 2005), changes in educational policy and the development of feminist theories, have broadened the area of concerns. Contemporary government unease over the shortage ofmen teachers, togetherwith an increasing recognition of the importance of looking at how masculinities are ‘performed’ in relation to femininities (Butler, 1990), hasmeant feminists have been turning their attention to addressing gendered aspects of professional practices, policies and identities (Smulyan, 2006; Martino, 2006; Acker and Dillabough, 2007; Mills et al., 2008). Not least because, as the discussion in this chapter will show, inequalities based on gendered beliefs and attitudes continue to influence the professional identities of teachers. For example, the morning we started to write this chapter an item on the breakfast news reported the results of a poll carried out by the Training and Development Agency saying that boys prefer men teachers. The item included an interview with a schoolboy, a male primary teacher, and a spokesperson from the National Literacy Trust. The questions from the presenters were couched in the same language of concern and anxiety about the ‘feminisation’ of teaching as that used in newspaper reports headlined ‘Betraying Boys’ (Daily Mail, 15 June, 2006: 56-7) and ‘Why boys need to be taught by male teachers’ (The Independent, 23 March, 2006: 18). The schoolboy responded to a question about why he preferred men teachers by saying he had only ever had one male teacher but he had explained difficult ideas and made schoolwork fun. The adults taking part nodded their heads wisely and one of the presenters commented ‘He sounds like a terrific teacher’. A Times newspaper report on the same poll entitled ‘Schoolboys join recruitment drive for more male teachers’ (Blair, 2007) observed

Although male teachers are thought not to have a significant impact on the academic achievement of boys or girls, Graham Holley, of the agency, says it is important that men are recruited to the staffroom.